Agape Love

We go to a large church, but that doesn't hinder love.  On Sunday morning, while seated in our Fellowship Group, several men came to Gary and greeted him with a kind touch.  There would be no handshake or eye contact from him.  No visible sign that he even noticed.  These men received nothing in return, and in fact risked looking and feeling a little silly.  "Hi Gary, it's great to see you today!"  "Hey, Mr. Price, Good Morning to you!" Some of these guys are in our smaller group Bible Study, and have spent some time around us.  Some are new friends that we have met since the dementia, so they fall in to the short term memory loss time period.  A couple of them have known us for a long, long time, and remember Gary from before, a clever guy, who loved Escatology, and always had a practical joke up his sleeve.  In fact, one of these guys used to meet with Gary for discipleship.  Now, when Gary looks at them, if he does, it's not clear if he recognizes them or not. But it doesn't matter how long we have known people, the body of Christ, reaches out to us.  A new friend offered to come visit Gary last week, and ended up looking at photo albums with him.  Gary was more interested in how the album opened and closed (a 3 ring binder) than reviewing the photos, but our friend sat with him to give companionship for an hour while I had an appointment.  Another friend spends time with Gary during our monthly A.D. ministry meeting at the church.  This Saturday he took him for a walk, with his arm around Gary for support, talked about the things they saw, chatting and joking away, while Gary said nothing.  Gary may or may not be understanding, but he is hearing a man's voice, and spending time with men.  It is awkward to talk to someone who does not respond, but these men, who love Jesus, love Gary because Jesus loved them first.  They are offering a cup of cold water in Jesus' name to "the least of these".  I have never been so grateful!